Volunteers from Bowdoinham are running a local “gift shop” in town designed to limit waste and redistribute unwanted items to thrifty residents in the community.

The shop – which is completely free and operates inside the Bowdoinham recycling barn – opened in April 2021 and offers anything from clothing and toys to housewares and small pieces of furniture.

“I have always cared a lot about recycling,” said Betsy Steen, the gift shop’s coordinator. “I guess maybe in my last life I might have been a ragpicker or something, but I love old things, and I just hate to see the waste of serviceable items – clothing to pots and pans to books to whatever, I hate to see them thrown out.”

The shop is managed by about seven active volunteers, Steen said, as well as about 20 others who occasionally pitch in. It is open every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Steen estimated that about 30 people typically stop by, mostly from Bowdoinham, but Topsham, Bath, Bowdoin and Richmond residents as well.

The mission is two-fold, according to volunteer Lisa Wesel, the first to promote the idea of limiting waste as an ecological effort and the second to help people who may be on a tight budget – although not exclusively.

“Even if you can afford to buy it, it’s just better for the earth not to,” Wesel said. “People shouldn’t feel funny about coming here if they can afford to go shopping, they should come here because it’s really the right thing to do. It’s the right thing to do to repurpose what you have.”

Karen Mayo, a weekly Saturday volunteer, agreed. “We really believe in that – reduce, reuse, recycle, repurpose,” she added.

Statewide, individual waste disposal in Maine is increasing, according to a Feb. 2021 report by the Natural Resources Council of Maine. Citing Maine Department of Environmental Protection data, the report states that in 2014, Maine’s annual waste per person stood at 1,140 pounds. In 2019, it increased to 1,256 pounds.

In an interview Wednesday, Sarah Nichols, the report’s author and the organization’s Sustainable Maine Program Director, said that the increase can be attributed to the economics, where disposal is oftentimes cheaper than recycling. In addition, Nichols said, today many items are not designed with the same quality as past decades, and as a result, society has become more consumptive.

Nichols said that local level waste reduction efforts, such as the Bowdoinham gift shop, are a common positive in Maine, and indicative of a general “use it up, wear it out” attitude.

However, she added, it’s important not to place the fault on the individual.

“Oftentimes, the creators of all this waste, like some of the big consumer brand companies that are making this stuff, they’ll blame it on individuals and make people feel guilty,” Nichols said. “I want to set up the systems in a way that people get recyclable stuff, there’s a bin to put it in, and it’s easy – I almost want it to be so people don’t have to think about this so much.”

The Bowdoinham recycling barn is owned by resident David Berry, who said Wednesday that he hosts the gift shop for free because he believes it is a good resource for the community.

Bowdoinham operated its solid waste and recycling program for over 30 years at the barn before it moved its operations to the public works site in 2020 after an engineering firm identified safety and structural concerns.

In October, The Times Record reported that by a margin of two votes, Bowdoinham residents rejected a proposal by the select board to spend up to $40,000 on design, engineering and permitting for a new recycling/transfer station.

The Times Record also reported that according to Maine DEP, Bowdoinham’s municipal solid waste recycling has been on a constant decline over the last five years. The town’s recycling rate was at 55% in 2015 and it dropped to 38.37% in 2020.

According to Bowdoinham Town Manager Nicole Briand, the town received a proposal from Berry to again lease the barn on March 7. The select board will be discussing the proposal at the March 22 meeting.

The gift shop will only accept items from Bowdoinham residents that are clean, in decent condition, are reusable or are easily repaired. It is located at 243 Post Road.

Big pieces of furniture aren’t accepted at this time.

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